Delightful Surprise
by Silverado17
Summary: Sequel to Surprising Things in Unlikely Places. I suck at titles. Follow Harry and Severus after they discover something wonderful - they're going to finally have a child. Slash, mpreg, and minor Alpha/Beta/Omega dynamics (that part isn't really important here beyond the mpreg part)
**_AN: There was a very slight majority who wanted this all at once rather than split in two, so here it is._**

 ** _This is a sequel to Surprising Things in Unlikely Places. I highly recommend that you read that first. Also, if you've already read that, I added a tidbit to the end of it (I wouldn't really call it a chapter) on March 9, 2016 so if you want, you can go back and read that. It'll be chapter 12.  
_**

* * *

Harry woke up to a kiss being placed on his lips. "Mmm," he moaned. "Morning."

"Good morning," Severus said. "How are you feeling today?"

"Great," Harry said. It was true – he felt better than he normally did after a heat, which was weird because he was pretty sure he'd just experienced one of the most intense heats of his life. "You?"

"Relatively the same. After you eat I am going to go ahead down to the shop to get things running again, alright?"

"Think you can manage without me?" Harry asked, smiling.

"I might," Severus said, moving a breakfast tray from the bedside table to Harry's lap. "Now, eat up."

"Yes sir," Harry said cheekily. Once Severus saw to it that Harry ate a sufficient amount of food, he gave him a chaste peck on the lips before departing for the shop. He used to wait to see the results of the diagnostic spell, but he had quickly figured out that, just like Harry preferred to run the spell on his own, he also preferred to be alone for a few minutes afterward. Severus was happy to give him his space with it, though. Merlin knew Severus needed his space on occasion, so it was only fair to return the consideration Harry often extended to him.

As Harry ran the diagnostic spell, he got a different result than the one he was accustomed to. But surely it couldn't be. He'd been wanting to get pregnant for so long, but he had started thinking that it would never happen after a full year of trying with Severus. He really wanted to rush over to Severus to tell him, but he knew that occasionally the spells could be wrong. It would do no good to get both of their hopes up if it was a false alarm.

He didn't want to just see a random healer, though, because then it was much too likely for the news that Harry Potter was pregnant to leak out – assuming he even was pregnant. He didn't want it to get out that he was pregnant the day that it happened. That meant he would need to pay Hermione a visit. He took a good look at the clock. Strangely enough, his heat had ended in the middle of the afternoon the day before, so he'd woken up much earlier than he normally did the day after his heat. Therefore, it was still early enough that Hermione might be home.

Going to the fireplace, he made a Floo call to the Weasleys' house. "Mum, Dad, it's Uncle Harry!" he heard Rose calling before she came into view.

"Hey, pumpkin," he said, using the pet name he knew he'd get a kick out of embarrassing her with once she reached her teens – unless by some miracle she wouldn't care. "How's it going?"

"Great! Guess what!"

"What?"

"We got a pet cat!"

"When?" asked Harry curiously.

"Two days ago. I got to name him," Rose said proudly.

"What did you name him?"

"Mittens!"

"Nice," Harry said, grinning when he saw Ron appear behind his daughter. "Is it alright if I come through?" he asked.

"Sure," Ron agreed.

"Hey," Harry said when he entered. "Is Hermione still here?"

"Yeah, she doesn't leave for another 15 minutes. Why?"

"Well, this isn't exactly a social call," Harry said. "I have a minor medical question."

"Oh?" Ron said. "Well, I think she's in the library – big surprise, right?"

"Yeah. I'll be back – this shouldn't take long." Harry found Hermione reading over something in a rather large volume when he entered the library.

"Hello, Harry," Hermione said. "What brings you here?"

"Well, I was wondering if you could do me a favor," Harry said. "It won't take long."

"What is it?" Hermione asked, sure she would be more than willing to do whatever it was.

"Well, I did that spell this morning – the one that's supposed to detect pregnancy – and it came back positive. I've never gotten a positive result before, though. I was wondering if you would mind doing a double-check for me because you're a qualified healer?"

"Of course," Hermione said with a smile, marking her place in the book before standing. "It probably wasn't a false positive, but I completely understand why you want me to check." Hermione ran the spell, and it came back positive once again. Hermione immediately went forward and hugged a shell-shocked Harry.

"I'm actually pregnant," Harry said in awe. He'd honestly lost hope that this would ever happen to him. "Thanks, Hermione. Could you not mention this to Ron? I think Sev should be the next person to know."

"Of course," agreed Hermione. "When are you going to tell him?"

"I think I'll visit him at lunch, surprise him a little."

"Alright. Let me know how it goes."

"I will."

* * *

Severus was about to sit down in the back for his lunch break when the most beautiful sight he knew accompanied by his favorite scent entered the room in the form of his mate – not that he would ever voice such sappy musings aloud. Sending him a warm smile, Severus wrapped his arms around Harry when they met in the middle of the room. "What brings you here?" he asked after giving Harry a kiss.

"You," Harry answered. "I thought I could eat lunch with you here and then maybe help you out this afternoon," Harry said.

"I have no objections," Severus said. "Shall we go sit in the back?"

"Sure," Harry said, following Severus. Harry had decided it might be best to break the great news before Severus started eating – just to make sure he didn't choke on his food. "There's something I'd like to tell you before we start eating," Harry said. When the response he received was a concerned look, he elaborated, "It's nothing bad, I promise." Severus looked appeased, so without further delay, Harry said, "I'm pregnant."

Severus stared at Harry as if petrified. They were having a pup. He was going to be a father. Thoughts suddenly filled his mind. He was going to have a pup to raise, who would call him dad, or something – they'd have to work out who would claim what title as a parent. He was going to have a pup to call his own, that he could teach and hold and love, and Harry was going to share the experience with him. They would need to set up a nursery of course. He couldn't wait to be a parent with Harry. His musings were interrupted by Harry's voice. "Sev?" He sounded worried.

Realizing how long he'd been quite, Severus said, "This is amazing, Harry. I haven't felt this happy since we became mates. Come here." He opened his arms, and Harry took the invitation to sit on the taller man's lap – a position they both quite enjoyed when alone. Severus wrapped his arms around the figure curled in his lap, and a thought struck him. He was holding his whole family right now. They were both so small – one much more so than the other. He realized then that he would stop at nothing to protect them both. He rubbed a hand over Harry's belly, knowing that their pup was on the other side of the skin there. It was an incredible thought. "We'll need to start scheduling appointments with a healer soon," Severus said.

"Why?" Harry whined.

Severus chuckled, knowing Harry liked to avoid anything medical after all the times he'd had to see healers in the not-so-distant past. "Because I want to make sure you're always safe. There is no call for us to risk your health, which will be particularly vulnerable in the upcoming months. You are too important to me for that."

Harry snuggled further into Severus, unable to refute that logic. "So when do you want to schedule an appointment?" he asked.

"As soon as possible I suppose. Perhaps Hermione can recommend someone."

"She probably can, seeing as how she's recommended most of the other medical people we go to," Harry said. Hating having to see healers as much as he did, it was really no wonder he hadn't thought about asking her earlier. "We're having dinner with them tomorrow night, aren't we? We could ask her then."

"Yes," was all Severus said.

* * *

When they reopened after lunch, Remus was their first customer. He and Sirius, as well as the Weasleys (most of them) had moved their business to Severus's apothecary at various different times after Severus and Harry had mated. "How are the two of you?" he asked when he saw them both up front.

"Great," Harry said enthusiastically. "How are you?"

"I'm fine," Remus said. "I'm here for my monthly dose of Wolfsbane," he said easily.

"Here you are," said Severus, having already anticipated what Remus was there for and so getting the necessary potion. He shared a look with Harry that was not lost on Remus.

After Harry and Severus came to silent agreement, Harry said, "Guess what."

"What?" Remus asked, bypassing the guessing process.

"I'm pregnant!" Harry said with a grin that was so warm it might have set of fireworks.

"That's great," Remus said, pulling Harry into a hug. When he pulled away he asked, "Is it alright if I go ahead and tell Sirius, or would you prefer to tell him yourself?"

"You can tell him," Harry said. "Don't tell anyone else yet, though. We're eating with Hermione and Ron tomorrow night and we're going to let everyone over there know about it then."

"I'm so happy for you, Harry," Remus said.

"Thanks," Harry said.

* * *

The next night, Harry and Severus took the Floo straight to Ron and Hermione's house. Rose was the first to greet them, jumping up into Severus's arms. He caught her easily, as usual. "Hello there," he said. "I heard you've gotten a cat."

"That's right!" Rose said as enthusiastically as ever. "I named him Mittens. He's only a kitten now so I have to make sure to take really good care of him, but Mum said he's all mine and he'll be a great pet after he grows up around me. She said she used to have a cat when she went to Hogwarts, and that Daddy didn't like the cat at first, but then he changed his mind. That's how I know he doesn't have a problem with Mittens, because he realized a long time ago, when he was still in school, that he likes cats after all. Did you know that one of the teachers at Hogwarts can turn into a cat? Isn't that so cool?"

Harry started tuning out what Rose was saying. She was often hard to keep up with and Harry often wondered at how easy it was for Severus to get along with such a young child who talked so fast. He used to complain about the way school children were so unable to be calm, but when it came to his honorary niece, he was completely unfazed. Harry marveled at how great his mate was with children after being one of his students for so many years. He was beginning to look forward to raising a child with Severus even more.

He was pulled back to reality when Ron entered the room. "Thank Merlin you finally made it. I was starving, and you know Hermione. We just can't start eating until our honored guests have arrived," he complained, though both of his guests knew he didn't really mind – though Harry didn't doubt the redhead was hungry.

Rose jumped down from Severus's arms and went over to her father. "Daddy," she said excitedly, "did you know Uncle Sev'us likes cats, too?" Harry still smiled every time he heard his niece mispronounce his husband's name. She was getting closer, though. Too bad Harry was the only one he would allow to call him Sev.

"No, I didn't actually," Ron said as he led the small group into the cozy dining room where Hermione had just finished transferring the food to the table.

"This food looks great, Hermione," Harry said.

"Thank you," Hermione said with a smile as they all sat down to eat.

The conversation stayed friendly as they ate. They never brought up any serious matters when eating since Rose was always around. Any real problems would be discussed after Rose had gone to bed – because it was very rare for Harry and Severus to go home as soon as the food was eaten. The topic went from Quidditch to work to the past days at Hogwarts, which as usual brought many questions from the youngest person at the table. Finally, just as they had finished dinner and were getting ready to move onto dessert, Harry shared a look with Severus. At the other man's nod, Harry spoke up.

"There's an announcement Sev and I have to make. We found out some great news yesterday – I'm pregnant. We're gonna have a pup."

Even though Hermione already knew this, she still beamed at the couple. Ron grinned as well and over Rose's squeal he managed to make his "Congratulations" heard.

"Is it a boy or a girl?" Rose asked eagerly.

"Well we don't know yet. We only found out yesterday," Harry said, smiling at her.

"I think it should be a girl. Then I can have a cousin to play with!"

"Sweetie, you're going to have a cousin to play with either way," Ron reminded his daughter.

"Yeah, but boys do icky stuff. I want a girl cousin."

Hermione looked like she was about to scold her daughter, but Severus said something before Hermione could. "We can't really pick which one it will be, but I'm sure if the pup is a boy, he won't be too icky for you to handle."

"Are you sure?" she asked.

"As sure as I can be," Severus said, hoping he hadn't just dug some hole for himself.

"How about some chocolate cake to celebrate?" Hermione suggested.

"That sounds spectacular," Harry agreed.

* * *

The next morning found Harry reflecting as he stared out the window after breakfast. Life for Harry and Severus seemed to be going splendidly. After the nightmare Harry's life had become a couple of years ago, he was relieved that things had turned out the way they had. He not only had wonderful friends, but also parents who loved him and the best alpha he could have ever hoped for, who loved him so much, and who Harry loved. Now he also had a pup on the way. At the thought, he laid a hand on his abdomen where he knew the baby was growing inside of him. He wondered if he had that glow everyone seemed to say pregnant people always have. He certainly felt warm inside - a warm that surrounded with the feeling of being loved, protected, and safe.

Sev came up behind him and wrapped his arms around his mate, enhancing Harry's contended feelings. "Hello, there," Severus said against the juncture between Harry's shoulder and neck, kissing him there. He placed his hands over Harry's, envisioning the pup he had growing inside his mate. "How are you feeling?"

"The best I've felt in a while," Harry admitted.

"Mmm, you're glowing, you know," Sev observed.

That put a small smile on Harry's face. He leaned further back into his husband's embrace. "We should start talking names, don't you think?" he asked, almost curiously.

Sev chuckled. "The baby is not even a month along yet and we have no idea the gender, and you already wish to discuss names?"

"Well, sure," Harry said, blushing. "Do you think it's too soon?"

"I suppose not, but I thought we might wait until we at least knew the gender."

"I guess so," Harry relented. He gave a small, happy sigh. "This is so exciting," he said. "I just never thought that I would be able to… you know."

Sev finally turned Harry around in his arms to plant a kiss on his lips. "Have I ever told you how much I love you?" he asked after they separated.

"Yes, but you can feel free to tell me again," Harry said, grinning.

"Or I could show you," Sev said, enveloping his mate's lips in another kiss.

* * *

When the morning sickness started, Harry thought he might die. He couldn't hold down anything he ate, and whoever called it morning sickness was a complete imbecile. It happened around the clock, at least where Harry was concerned. Sev stayed by him throughout it, doing all he could to help alleviate the discomfort Harry was in.

The next trimester seemed almost like bliss once the morning sickness ended, but then different complications arose. Only a week after Harry had been given relief from the morning sickness, Harry started having nightmares. The content of the nightmares was fairly varied. Sometimes it would be about Voldemort and the War, other times it would be about all the times he had nearly lost someone. The most common of those was the time Sirius had nearly died in the Department of Mysteries. Then there were the ones about Nathaniel, and they always left lasting traces on Harry's demeanor the day after. When Nathaniel made an appearance in Harry's dreams, he became wary once again, shying away from strangers and, to Severus's slight relief, attaching himself to his alpha's side. The relief Severus felt came from the knowledge that Harry was seeking comfort in a safe place.

One night, Harry woke up sweating, as he usually did after a nightmare of any kind, but he didn't feel quite the same as he normally did after a nightmare. This time he felt something much worse, something like a deep regret. It was the same way he'd felt every time he'd get in trouble when he was younger and Sirius would use _that_ voice, the one that said he had done wrong and Sirius was disappointed with him. It was a little worse than that, though. He felt like he'd failed in one of the worst ways. It was sometimes like that for Harry – he would wake from a nightmare and instead of having memories of what had happened, he'd just feel horrible.

He looked over to Severus, and was about to wake him up – because nothing could make him feel better than Sev could – when he remembered what he'd dreamt. Sev had left him. He hadn't left him without a trace though; he'd left a note behind. Harry could still remember the words in it. _I'm sure this will be hard for you, but I must move on. I cannot handle the late nights any longer. I can no longer look after someone like you who is so demanding of my attentions. I hope you will learn from these mistakes you have recently made. It was enjoyable at the beginning, so at least you have that for comfort. I hope you will move on, because I know I will and I personally don't want to see you again. –SS_

Remembering what had happened, Harry felt cold all of a sudden. What if it was true? He had been pretty clingy lately, and maybe Sev really did want his space, but he was too afraid to say it. Harry couldn't survive losing Sev. Nathaniel had been bad enough, but losing Sev – that would be unbearable. His mind made up, Harry turned over and tried to go back to sleep. Severus probably wanted to sleep – Harry wasn't the only one who was tired, after all. He made sure to stay on his side of the bed rather than snuggling up to Severus as he normally did.

When Severus woke the next morning, he was surprised that Harry was several inches away from him on the bed. He much preferred to hold Harry as they slept, and last he checked, Harry preferred to be held. He couldn't remember a time when they had slept without keeping physical contact with one another. Grumbling to himself, he moved forward on the bed to wrap an arm around Harry's middle, where he knew their pup was growing. Feeling Harry begin to move, he kissed the back of his neck before murmuring, "Good morning."

Harry sighed happily. "Morning," he replied, still feeling a little tired, but in a good way.

"Did you sleep well?" Sev asked, as he always did.

Harry was about to respond that he hadn't slept so well when he remembered that he'd resolved to give Severus some space the night before. "Fine," he said softly, hoping Severus wouldn't detect anything to wonder about in his tone.

Severus grew concerned at Harry's answer. He sounded like he was trying to hide something. "Are you sure?" he asked softly.

"Yeah," was all Harry said.

The rest of the day, Harry continued to remain distant from his mate. He didn't instigate any physical touches as he normally would, although he didn't shy away whenever Severus went to kiss him or put a hand on his shoulder or hip. He stayed mainly to himself, even while at work, and had little to say over their meals together. Needless to say, Severus was getting worried about his mate. Knowing that moodiness was sure to be setting in, he hoped it would go away soon. He allowed his mate to have his space for that day, and the following days.

After three days of the same thing, both Harry and Severus felt like they were slowly losing it. Harry wanted things to go back to normal, but he would rather endure this than endure the loss of Severus. He didn't think he _could_ endure another loss of a mate. Severus just wanted Harry to talk to him, to tell him what was wrong. He hated nothing more than to see the omega hurting, and he knew he was hurting. He couldn't figure out why for the life of him, though.

It was lunchtime when Severus finally decided there would be no more waiting this out. "Harry," he said, "what is wrong?"

"Nothing," Harry said quickly. He needed to handle this on his own, rather than bringing Severus down.

"Are you sure about that?" Severus asked. "You have seemed troubled these last few days."

"Troubled? No, I'm not troubled. I'm fine, okay?" Harry said, and for some reason he felt like he was pleading for Sev to believe that everything was okay, that there was nothing for him to worry about. He didn't want Severus to get frustrated with him.

"You know you can talk to me, don't you?" Severus clarified. He felt Harry knew, but he wanted to make sure of it.

"Of course," Harry said. Just because he could talk didn't mean he should.

"Well, if you're sure you are alright…"

When Harry remained distant for the rest of the day, Severus knew it was time to bring in reinforcements. He could normally help Harry through phases such as these, but this was too much. He wasn't used to pregnant Harry as much, and this was a very vital time for him to not screw up, so he knew he needed to talk to someone else who knew Harry. After they closed the shop for the day, he said, "I have an errand to run. Would you like to come with me?"

"No," said Harry, because he always went with Sev to go places, but maybe the alpha wanted to go somewhere by himself for once.

"If you're sure. I'll see you soon, love." He gave Harry a parting kiss before he went to Sirius and Remus's house. When he knocked on the door, it was Remus who answered it. "I was wondering if the two of you would be willing to give me some advice," he said hopefully, almost desperately.

"Of course," said Remus, granting the other man entrance. He led Severus into the sitting room, where Sirius was reclining by the fire with a book.

"Hello, Severus," Sirius greeted him.

"Hello," Severus answered. "I need some help, and the two of you are the first I thought to come to."

"What is it you need help with?" Remus asked.

"Harry," Severus answered. "I don't know what's going on, and he won't talk to me."

"What do you mean?" asked Sirius, his pup-in-danger-senses on alert.

"It started about three days ago. He's been increasingly distant. I thought it might just be a small phase, or he might just want space, so I tried to give him some room, but the only change is that things have gotten worse. He's normally more affectionate, but he hasn't initiated any form of physical contact in days, and I've asked him several times what is wrong, and reminded him that he can talk to me about things, but he keeps insisting he is fine even though I know he is not. I feel as if I'm losing him, but for once I just don't know how to get through to him."

"What time of day exactly did this start?" Remus asked.

"Before we woke up, I suppose. Normally we sleep very close to each other, but when I awoke on the first day of this, he was quite some distance from me. When I asked him how he slept, he said 'fine,' but that is the word he always uses when he doesn't want anyone to see that something is wrong. Things got worse from there."

"I think I know what the problem is," Remus said. "Bad dreams are notorious for this stage of pregnancy, especially with omegas, and even more so with those who have been through hard times, which Harry certainly has. I have a feeling he had a bad dream, and it has somehow made him want to keep his distance from you. I cannot say what the dream was about, but I believe we know the root of it, now."

"So what can I do?" Severus asked.

Sirius took a deep breath. "I would suggest sitting down and talking to him. I'm sure you've already tried, but perhaps you should take a different approach. It may or may not do the trick, but tell him that he's not a bother, that you really do care to know what's troubling him, and that he really does matter to you, that you're not tired of him or anything like that. Raising Harry, after the years he spent with those relatives of his, I've noticed that sometimes when Harry gets down, he starts to question his value to others, and there's no way Nathaniel helped with that." When Sirius said the other alpha's name, the malice was palpable. "There were many times when he would refuse to speak to us, but after one of us would assure him that he was loved and that we really did still want him around, he would normally break down and all his worries would start coming out."

Severus swallowed. Had he let Harry go so long thinking he was in the way? "Thank you," he said thickly. "I think I ought to go ahead and do that now," he said.

"Good luck. Let us know if you need any more help," Remus said. Severus nodded before quickly going home, where he began to look for Harry.

When Sev found Harry, he was in the middle of trying to find something to cook for dinner. "Harry," Sev said as he approached his mate, "Can we talk for a moment in the sitting room?"

"Of course," Harry agreed, following the other man into the sitting room. "What did you want to talk about?" he asked as he sat on the opposite end of the couch from Severus.

Severus gave him a pained look. "Harry, I want you to listen to what I have to say, every word of it, and trust that I am telling you the truth. Can you do that?"

"Sure," Harry said hesitantly, worried about what might be coming.

"I love you, Harry. You are the most important person in my life, and I don't foresee that changing in the future. You matter more to me than anything else in this world, and if I ever lost you for any reason, I would never be the same again. You have changed me for the better in the time we've known each other. I can think of nothing I would be unwilling to do for you, because you are that special to me. Your well-being matters very much to me, as does your happiness. With this in mind, when I say that you can tell me anything, know that what I truly mean is that I want you to talk to me about whatever it is that's bothering you these past few days, because I know something is, and I'm worried about you, because I love you with all of my being. Would you please talk to me?"

"Sev," Harry said, but nothing else came out. He had known Severus cared, but somehow, hearing him lay it out like that for him, just made him feel so… he didn't even know the word for it, but soon he was crying and throwing his arms around his mate, scrambling for the comfort that he knew would be offered.

Severus wrapped both of his arms around Harry. He periodically placed kisses in the boy's hair, allowing him to cry, knowing that for now Harry just needed to release everything he'd been holding back. "It's alright," he said. "I'm here." That was all Harry really needed to hear.

When Harry finally sat up again, he leaned against Sev's shoulder. "I'm sorry about all this," he said, knowing now that he'd been childish and had worried Severus because of it.

"Don't apologize, Harry. Just tell me why," Severus requested.

"I had a bad dream a few nights ago, and it scared me," Harry finally admitted. "I know you never would, but in my dream you left me. You left behind a note, saying that you couldn't handle the stress I was putting you under anymore, and that you hoped I'd move on because you were going to. I just got so scared that maybe I was putting too much pressure on you, so I thought it would be better if I gave you some space to make sure you didn't feel too much strain from me."

"I know you said that you know I'd never leave you, but I'm going to tell you this anyway, love. I care far too much about you to walk away from you because of a few nights without enough sleep. Leaving you is the last thing I'd ever want to do."

Harry just nodded and continued to lean into Sev.

* * *

They had learned that they were going to have a daughter, and finally decided to name her Ivy Malinda Snape. Everyone was waiting excitedly for the happy day to come. By the time Harry was a week away from his due date, he was getting quite impatient to hold his daughter in his arms. Sev kept on telling him to be patient, but Harry was having trouble with that part of it.

Harry had quit working a few weeks ago, and now Sev had temporarily closed his apothecary because he wanted to be present when Harry went into labor. He had left a notice on the door that anyone who had a serious emergency could contact him, followed by his contact information. Three days before Harry's due date, he and Sev were spending a Saturday at Ron and Hermione's house with the other couple and their daughter.

Severus was in the lavatory, Ron was looking for a new Quidditch magazine he'd recently discovered and wanted to share with Harry, and Hermione was checking on lunch when suddenly Harry felt a severe contraction go through him, and of course Rose was the only one in the room with him. He just knew, somehow, that he was going into labor. When the contraction had passed, he got the girl's attention. "Rose," he gritted out as calmly as he could. He had to admit he was a little nervous.

"Yes, Uncle Harry?" she asked as she looked up from where she'd been playing on the floor.

"Can you go get either Severus or one of your parents for me please? My daughter's coming."

Squealing, Rose quickly ran to find an adult. She ran into her other uncle in the hallway. "Uncle Harry said to get you, Uncle Sev'us. He says your daughter's coming!"

"Thank you, sweetie," Severus said before rushing into the room where he saw Harry in the middle of another contraction – already. "Harry, are you alright?" he asked.

"Fine, just get me to the bloody hospital," Harry said. Nodding, Severus did just that. "Rose, tell your parents what is happening for me, please." When the little girl gave him a nod, he quickly took Harry to St. Mungo's. It wasn't long before they were in a room with a healer tending to them.

It quickly became apparent that in-labor-Harry was a very angry person. Along with many colorful expletives that made the stoic Potions Master blush, Harry began throwing all sorts of threats at Severus; not least among them was, "You'll never touch me again, Severus Snape!" accompanied by, "You're going to become very well acquainted with our couch!" Severus hoped Harry was just saying these things in the heat of the moment, but he couldn't be sure…

At exactly 2:30 in the afternoon on March 9, Ivy Malinda was brought into the world. It wasn't long before she was being held by her proud daddy, with her papa looking down on them wearing a smile most would have considered him incapable of. Her daddy was quite exhausted, but he still held her in his strong arms as he fed her. "She's beautiful," he murmured.

"Indeed," Sev agreed, quite glad that she had not inherited his nose, but Harry's. She had Sev's dark eyes, though. "May I sit with you?" he asked, unsure if Harry wanted to hold onto his threats.

"Of course," Harry said, moving over to make room.

The parents got an hour to spend alone with their new pup before they allowed company in, that company being in the form of most of the Weasleys and Remus and Sirius. Ivy got passed around by all of her family, each one of them adoring her completely. Harry was glad his daughter would have so many people looking out for her. Growing up the way he did, he wanted his daughter to have a large family, and it seemed she would get just that.

 **The End**

* * *

 ** _AN: I will always suck at endings, so sorry if this doesn't satisfy completely. I hope everyone enjoyed this. I have started on the third installment, but it will more than likely not be published for a few months. I make no promises. Feedback is the best!  
_**


End file.
